


learn my soul

by fueledbyfiction



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: 5+1 Things, At least a little OOC sorry, Baking, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, M/M, Nail Polish, Origami, Post-Canon, Skateboarding, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Yoga, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24800641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fueledbyfiction/pseuds/fueledbyfiction
Summary: Neil is starting to get used to a relatively peaceful life with the Foxes, but there's still a lot for him to learn.Or, five times the Foxes teach Neil new skills and one time he teaches Andrew an old one.i. Matt teaches Neil how to skateboardii. Renee helps Neil make some origami creationsiii. Allison shows Neil how to take care of and paint his nailsiv. Nicky and Neil bake muffinsv. Kevin and Neil go to a yoga class
Relationships: Kevin Day & Neil Josten, Matt Boyd & Neil Josten, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Neil Josten & Allison Reynolds, Neil Josten & Renee Walker, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Neil Josten
Comments: 13
Kudos: 168





	1. i. living with reckless abandon

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like this :) The rest of the chapters should be up pretty soon

Matt was late for their lunch date. Neil looked up at the clock behind the register again. It hadn’t changed since the last time he had glanced at it. Matt was supposed to be here half an hour ago. Neil finally caved and dug his phone out of his backpack. He powered it up and waited for any messages to load. A few seconds later, a red notification bubble appeared on his messages app. He opened it quickly; it would be a lie to say he wasn’t at least a little worried about Matt. He was always on time.

Kevin: **after watching the game a second time I actually think the real problem for the bulldogs was their pass plays. not sure what they were trying to accomplish at minute twenty-seven**

Neil checked one more time to make sure that was the only message. He drummed his fingers on the table. He sipped his vanilla creme soda. He looked at the menu even though he got the same thing every week. He examined his nails. They could use a trim. He checked his phone again. Still nothing.

Finally, Neil scrolled through his contacts. He found Matt’s number and hit the call button. It rang one, two, three times. On the fourth ring, Matt answered, sounding breathless, “Neil? What’s up, buddy?”

“Where are you?”

“Oh, shit, what time is it?” There was a pause and then, “I’ll be there in ten minutes, my man. Order me my usual.”

And then he hung up.

Neil wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. Had Matt and Dan been spending some quality time together in an empty dorm room? Had he been at the court or the gym? Neil sighed and put it out of his head. He’d find out what it was all about when Matt got there anyway. He called a waitress over, and while she refilled his coffee he listed off the items they got every Monday afternoon. This waitress, Molly, always worked this shift and was plenty familiar with their order. She didn’t even bother writing it down, she just nodded and went back into the kitchen to get it ready for them.

When Matt finally arrived, he was flushed and out of breath. He walked up to Neil’s table, then got down on his knees in front of him and said, “I’m so sorry! Please forgive me.”

Neil stared at him for a couple of seconds in confusion, then replied, “I was never mad. Where were you?”

Thankfully this prompted Matt to get up off the floor and sit in his chair like a normal human being.

“I was out skateboarding. I know you only care about one sport, but I like to diversify my exercise opportunities,” Matt grinned at Neil. He was honestly way too happy, but Neil loved him so it was okay.

Neil tried to defend himself, “I don’t only care about exy. I also like running. If exy didn’t work out for some reason I could definitely join the track team.”

“Maybe someday I could longboard next to you while you run, we’d probably be about the same pace.”

Neil rolled his eyes, and Matt changed the subject to something distinctly more exy-related to please his friend.

☆☆☆

About a week later, Matt made good on his promise to join Neil for his morning run. Neil was somewhat grateful that he hadn’t insisted on running along with him, because when Andrew had done that a few times the year before, Neil had been forced to slow considerably. He was happy for the company, though.

Matt clearly felt very comfortable on a skateboard, leading Neil to believe it was a hobby leftover from Matt’s life before college. They went down a bike trail that started on campus and made a winding loop around some of the city’s parks. It was a Sunday, so they didn’t go out too early, but the trails were still relatively quiet and the day hadn’t quite warmed up yet. A few people were out walking dogs, and Matt seemed very happy about this, stopping occasionally to coo at them and at least waving at all of them. They were out for a little over an hour, and when they got back to campus the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds and make exercising outside almost impossible for Neil’s more temperate tastes.

“Before we go inside, do you want to give it a go?” Matt asked, gesturing to his longboard and grinning. Neil had a suspicion that this was likely to end with him flat on his face, but Dan would be disappointed and call him sour if he didn’t at least attempt to try new things. She and Matt were very insistent that Neil’s entire life could not revolve around exy, despite Kevin’s arguments to the contrary.

“Okay. Just let me get my breath first,” Neil replied and started running through his typical post-run stretches. When he didn’t feel like he was near collapse, he walked over to Matt and said, “Okay, how do I even get on this thing?”

Matt laughed and explained that all you needed to do was place your feet shoulder-width apart and get your balance to start. Neil did as instructed, wobbling dangerously. Matt held his hand out for support, and he gratefully took it, still feeling a bit like the board was just going to shoot out from underneath him.

“I can just scoot you along,” Matt said with a laugh, walking slowly beside Neil with their hands still clasped so Neil inched along. He was quite pleased by how well it was going until they reached a small hill. Matt let go of his hand to let gravity do the work, but Neil still didn’t know how to steer or stop, and when he hit a particularly big pebble on the path, he went flying. His quick reflexes allowed him to avoid going sprawling across the pavement, but he scraped his knee a bit in the landing. Matt immediately ran over to help him up and insist they go clean up his knee, despite the lack of severity of the injury.

“Matt!” Neill yelped when Matt tried to pick him up and carry him into the dorm. “I’m fine! It’s just a tiny scrape!”

“That’s it! We need to go straight to Dan. You know you’re not allowed to say that you’re fine! You never are.”

Giggling like a pair of children, they took the elevator up to Dan’s room. Matt had thankfully remembered to rescue the longboard as well and was carrying it under one arm. When they reached the correct floor, Matt knocked on the door and they waited. Soon enough they heard footsteps, and the door swung open, revealing Dan behind it.

“Hey, babe, we had a bit of an incident,” Matt admitted sheepishly, greeting his girlfriend with a kiss to the cheek. She sighed, checking Matt over for injuries first and then turning to Neil.

She eyed his scraped knee and said knowingly, “You tried to get on the skateboard, huh?”

Neil nodded, and Dan laughed, “I only made that mistake once. Matt is a horrible teacher.”

Matt mimed being shot in the heart, dramatically pretending to collapse on the carpet. Dan ushered them inside, rolling her eyes at Matt’s antics. She went and fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom and had Neil’s knee cleaned and bandaged in no time.

As Neil was thanking her and getting ready to go back to his own dorm, Dan stopped him, ruffling his hair and saying, “I am proud of you for trying something new, though.”

Neil glowed. He was so lucky to have his Foxes.


	2. ii. tender touches and careful fingers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is kinda short, the next couple are not quite done but they'll be longer

Renee was sitting on one of the beanbags in their suite, texting someone on her phone when Neil came home from class. She and Andrew had been sparring that morning, so he had probably invited her up when they finished.

“Where’s Andrew?” he asked, not leaving room for any pleasant ‘how are you’s.

“He’s in the shower.” She set down her phone and looked up at Neil. “How was your class?”

“Good.”

Renee smiled, but Neil was tired and not in the mood for dealing with social interaction of any kind. He went into the bedroom and collapsed on his bed, and his early morning crashed down around him. The season was in full swing and it felt like he rarely got to rest. He might have dosed off for a bit, but at some point, he heard Andrew turn off the water from the shower. The sudden quiet jolted his brain back into reality. When Andrew came into the bedroom his hair was damp and he was adjusting his armbands to get them to sit properly. His eyes met Neil’s and Neil smiled, a dopey grin taking over his face. 

“Hi,” he said, flipping over so he could see Andrew better. Andrew just looked at how pitifully smitten Neil clearly was, syrupy and sleepy, and rolled his eyes. 

“Neil,” he said, a warning note in his voice, “I’m going to make lunch. Macaroni or sandwiches?”

“Maybe macaroni?” Andrew stared at him for a couple of seconds longer, then turned on his heel and made his way to the kitchen, picking his way over the discarded sports equipment and crumpled homework assignments that littered the floor. Neil stretched, then rolled out of bed. Renee was sitting on a beanbag in the living room and Andrew was already getting a pot and a couple of boxes of Kraft out of the cupboards.

Renee was bent over, fiddling with what looked to Neil like a piece of paper. He sat down next to her. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a little box for Allison’s earrings.”

“Is it made out of origami or something?” Neil knew vaguely what origami was, and he had seen people making little paper cranes out of sheets of patterned paper before, but he was having trouble figuring out how Renee’s creation would have any sort of structural integrity. 

“Yeah,” Renee answered. “Do you want me to show you how to make one?”

Neil shrugged and Renee got out a piece of paper for him. It was a bright shade of yellow with black stripes. Neil thought that if his little box turned out well it might look nice on Bee’s shelf. 

Renee began walking him through the steps, fold by fold. Under her capable tutelage, Neil was, in fact, able to make a tiny little box with a tiny little lid. The edges might have been a bit crooked and the lid was slightly too big, but Neil was new to crafting, so he was proud of his creation. Renee smiled at it and gave him a “well done,” which made his full heart swell just a little bit bigger. 

A sheepish smile graced his face as he asked, “Do you know how to make a crane? I always wanted to learn.”

“Of course,” Renee answered, pulling fresh sheets of paper out of the packet by her side. 

When they were halfway done with the folding, Andrew came into the living room with three bowls of macaroni cradled in his arms. He set one next to each of them and went to sit on the couch. Renee thanked him, but her attention was firmly on Neil. The crane took Neil much longer to get right, both because the folds were more intricate, and because after each one he took a bite of the mac and cheese. When they finally got their cranes finished (and in Neil’s case smoothed out by Renee’s nimble fingers), Neil turned to Andrew to show it off. Andrew studied it for about thirty seconds, then his gaze fixed on Neil.

His eyes flicked to Renee, then he asked, “Yes or no?”

“Yes.”

Andrew lifted Neil’s hand with his own and softly kissed the back of it. He quickly dropped it again, looking annoyed at Neil, as if Neil’s patience and sappiness were offensive to him. Neil knew better.

Renee cleared her throat, politely remarking that she really had to get going, but she’d see them later. She left a few sheets of origami paper on the coffee table, in case Neil felt like trying his hand at the craft again, then went back to her dorm.

As soon as the door swung shut behind her, Andrew pulled Neil into his lap and kissed him senseless. If Neil accidentally sat on the little crane and crumpled it, well, he could always make another one later. 


	3. iii. some healthy sparkle

After a particularly difficult practice, Neil was the last to leave the locker rooms. In the lounge, he found more people than usual waiting for him. While usually just Andrew stayed behind to drive him back to the dorms, today all the girls were waiting in the lounge, currently huddled around something Allison was showing them on her phone. They all snapped to attention when they saw him walk in. Dan spoke up first, grinning, “Your presence is requested in our dorm tonight at eight. Be there or be square.”

“Wait, why?” Neil asked, confused, “Am I in trouble?”

“No, baby,” Allison assured him, “You just need a good pampering.”

The other girls nodded agreeably. Andrew was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed but didn’t speak up in opposition to the idea. 

“Alright,” Neil agreed, “I guess I’ll see you at eight.”

☆☆☆

When he arrived at the dorm, he could hear loud pop music blasting through the door, and someone was singing along without much talent. He knocked hesitantly. Allison threw the door open. She was the one who was singing, which came as a surprise to Neil only because Allison was usually very composed. 

“Um, hi,” Neil started, still a bit confused about why the girls wanted him there. 

“Neil!” Allison shouted, clearly already a little bit tipsy. “Didn’t Dan text you that this is a pajama party?”

Neil nodded dumbly. He usually just slept in sweatpants and a t-shirt, so that’s what he had shown up in, but Allison was wearing a set of bright pink silk pajamas that looked like they were straight out of a teen movie. 

Renee appeared behind Allison and beckoned Neil inside, “C’mon, don’t mind her.”

They all got settled on the couch in a mess of blankets, each clutching drink cans. Renee had gotten him some Sprite from the fridge and Neil clutched the damp sides of the can with his warm hands to try to quell any misplaced unease. There were bowls of snacks being passed around and in the chaos Neil snagged some salty pretzels and crunched down while he watched the girls. 

Allison and Dan were arguing over what movie to watch. Neil had seen some of them in the long lonely hours he had spent in run-down hotel rooms as a child, but he didn’t weigh in on the argument. When they had finally decided on one, something sappy and underground that he hadn’t heard of before, Dan’s “favorite song” started playing over the speakers and she demanded that they wait until it was finished to press play on the movie. 

Once the song had finished, Allison got up to dim the lights and they started the movie. Neil paid attention for all of two minutes, but it quickly became clear that the girls were not super interested in following the plot. Allison had pulled something up on her phone and was showing the screen to Renee. Dan leaned over to look.

“Oh my god, Alli! That’s the guy?”

Allison nodded and tapped the screen some more before turning the screen back to Dan. At Neil’s confused look, Dan leaned back so he could see the screen and explained, “This is Henry. He’s on the soccer team and Allison wants to fuck him.”

“Oh,” was the only thing Neil could think to say. Allison laughed.

“How’s your man, Neil? Treating you right?” she said, reaching across Dan to steal some pretzels. He nodded dumbly. “Does he, like, actually show affection when you guys are together? I can’t imagine it.”

“Yeah,” Neil said. He could feel a blush rising up his neck. 

“Oh, my baby is all grown up! Does he hold your hand?” The blush made its way to Neil’s cheeks. The hand holding was new to them, but the last time they were in Columbia they had laid in bed for hours, trading lazy kisses with their fingers laced between them. 

Renee interfered, “Allison, where did you put the bucket of nail polish? I want mine to have time to dry all the way before we go to bed.”

Allison waved her hand in lazy circles in the direction of the bathroom, taking a large swig out of her Coke can, which was undoubtedly spiked with something strong. On her way back with the nail polish, Renee stopped to grab ice cream out of the freezer for them. Whoever had purchased it had gotten strawberry for Neil, so he happily dug a spoon into his pint. On-screen, the main character of the movie was talking about weddings.

Dan handed him the box of polish, effectively pulling his attention away from the film again. She had picked out a bottle of Fox orange for herself, and it looked particularly bright against her dark skin. Allison had already started on Renee’s, a muted lavender to match some of the streaks in her hair. He sifted through the mishmash of colors for a while, finally holding up a cornflower blue bottle. 

“Do you think this is too much? I’ve never worn nail polish before. Maybe it would be better to just go with black or something.”

Renee reassured him immediately, “I think that’s a nice color on you, Neil. Can you pass that to me?” She gestured to the box. “I want to put a glitter topper over mine.”

Neil obliged. He fiddled with the bottle he had picked out. Dan leaned into his side as she waited for Allison. “I love you guys,” she said out of nowhere. Neil wasn’t sure those words had ever been directed at him, but the love he felt for the rest of the Foxes astounded him sometimes. Eventually, Allison finished with Renee’s nails and moved on to Dan’s. Neil watched as she carefully brushed on a base coat. When all the nails were coated, she leaned back and blew softly on them to help them dry faster. 

Renee had pulled up a list of “would you rather” questions on her phone and even Neil giggled when Dan proclaimed that she would rather have spaghetti hair than maple syrup sweat. He decided it wouldn’t be too bad to have butterflies appear out of nowhere when he sneezed, and by the time they had lost interest in the game, Allison had finished drawing a teeny-tiny fox paw in black polish on Dan’s thumbnail. 

Allison took his hand and sighed, “You’re a mess, Angel. You have clearly never seen cuticle oil or a nail file in your life. Renee, where’s the emergency kit?”

Renee handed her a small box that rattled when it moved, and Allison took out multiple slightly frightening-looking tools. She explained the purpose of each one as she used them. 

“This is a cuticle pusher. See, you just push some of this extra skin back so there’s more room on the nail… And I’m just gonna use this one to clean any extra dirt out from underneath your nails, see?” She was brutally gentle, supporting his hand with one of hers and carefully poking and prodding at the nails with her tools. She filed his nails, brushing away the dust with a little makeup brush. When she started applying the base coat, a shiver climbed up the rungs of Neil’s spine. 

Allison stopped, “You good?”

“Mmm-hmm. It’s just so soft.” This made Allison laugh lowly. 

“Wait until you get a pedicure. Tickles so bad.” 

Allison slowly layered on the blue polish Neil had picked out. It was glossy and thick. Neil had never really considered painting his nails, but he quite liked how it looked. When she was satisfied, Allison let Neil admire them while she dug through the bucket of polishes some more. 

“I have this navy blue that would compliment that nicely. Do you want polka dots? Stripes? I could also put on some rhinestones or glitter if you wanted.” 

Neil felt bad at how much care she was putting into this considering they would likely flake off within the week, but the glitter on Renee’s nails was enticing. 

“Can I have glitter like Renee’s?” he asked, a little shy.

“Of course you can, Pumpkin.” 

She took out a bottle with big, flaky chunks of glitter that reflected the light in hues of blue and purple. “What about this one? It’s called a unicorn skin.”

Neil agreed and Allison finished off his manicure. They went and sat back on the couch. Allison tucked Neil in under the blankets so he didn’t risk smudging his nails. It was getting pretty late and it had been a long day. All the snacks were gone and the movie was clearly wrapping up. He tried to pay attention to the tearful confessions of love, but his eyelids were drooping and he couldn’t suppress a yawn. As soon as the credits rolled, Neil got up, worried about falling asleep. 

The girls wormed their way out of the covers, too, and the four of them did the bare minimum to tidy up the mess they had made in the living room. As Neil slipped out of the door, sleepy “good nights” followed him into the hallway. He stood outside the door for a second. His heart was so warm. Then, he crossed the hallway and unlocked the door to his own dorm, smiling faintly and ready to go to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3


	4. iv. made with love

The Monsters were in Columbia for the weekend, Neil and Katelyn in tow. Andrew and Neil had spent a quiet night in at the house while the others had gone clubbing at Eden’s. At six-thirty the next morning, Neil slowly returned to consciousness after a very needed good night’s sleep. He knew he had been working himself too hard lately, both on the court and off it. 

The first rays of sunlight were coming through the sheer curtains, and on the bedside table, Neil saw two phones charging side-by-side and two glasses partially full of water. Slung over his stomach was the arm of the person who owned the other half of these matching sets. Neil flipped around to look at a groggy and peaceful sleep-drunk Andrew. He mumbled something that could maybe have been interpreted as “staring,” but it sounded a lot more like “saain.” Neil smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Andrew’s forehead, before extracting himself from under Andrew’s arm and climbing out of bed. 

He yawned and rubbed his eyes, more out of custom than true tiredness. He stopped in the bathroom then headed down to the kitchen to make coffee and maybe breakfast. As he got closer it became clear he was not the only one awake. Nicky was clattering around in the kitchen, and on the phone with Erik, if the conversation Neil could hear from the bottom of the staircase was anything to go by. He thought about turning around to leave them be, but his stomach let out a little burble, so he continued on. 

When he walked in Erik was saying in German, “Mum is remodeling again. She is replacing the tile in the upstairs bathroom.”

Nicky laughed, “You mean she doesn’t like the neon green?”

“Um,” Neil interrupted awkwardly, “I’m just grabbing some coffee.”

“Oh! Neil’s here,” Nicky announced, flipping the phone around so Erik could see Neil’s pajama’d form. Neil waved, feeling silly. Nicky looked back up and said, “I already made coffee. Thinking about making muffins if you want to stick around.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay. I’ll just let you guys chat,” Nicky and Erik had just been talking about home renovation, but it felt strangely intimate to listen in on their conversation. 

“Erik has to leave in,” Nicky looked at the clock, “six minutes, and you should let Andrew sleep.”

Neil shrugged and sat down at the breakfast bar with his coffee. He looked out the window at the brightening morning. Nicky and Erik were prattling on, mostly about gossip and inside jokes. Nicky was in the middle of a story about something funny Kevin had done the night before while drunk when Erik cut him off. 

“I’m really sorry, liebling, but I am going to be late. I’ll call you before bed, okay?”

“Okay. Love you,” Nicky replied and blew his boyfriend a kiss through the phone. The call ended and Nicky sighed loudly, burying his face in his hands. He allowed himself a couple moments of sadness that Neil pretended not to notice, then he straightened up with a sunny smile. 

“Right, then. Have you ever made muffins?” 

“Nope. Wasn’t really high on the list of things to do when I was running from inevitable death.” Neil deadpanned. 

Nicky laughed, “Alright, smartass. You need to get out the eggs, butter, yogurt, and milk. I’ll get the dry ingredients.”

Neil hadn’t seen Nicky consult a recipe, but he assembled all the ingredients on the counter, along with a big bowl and a muffin tin. He picked up his phone and turned on some music, but it was more subdued than his normal upbeat pop. He hummed along while he started measuring and pouring things into the bowl. Neil was given a spatula and instructed to stir, so he complied. 

“Do you have this recipe memorized?” Neil asked, somewhat surprised at how knowledgeable Nicky seemed to be. 

“My mom and I used to make it every Sunday before church,” Nicky explained. “We would always have people over afterward, so we made a lot. It’s Erik’s sister’s favorite breakfast now, though. I spoil her whenever I’m there.”

Nicky was being so candid that Neil felt he should share something too, “My mom and I never had muffins.” He mimicked her voice, “‘Pastries are not breakfast, Abram, they’re desserts. You need to fuel up.’”

They were both quiet for a few beats and then, “Could you crack the eggs? We need two and they gross me out.”

Neil followed the instructions he was given and split both eggs into the batter. Only a tiny bit of shell fell in. Neil was able to easily fish it out before Nicky noticed. Nicky switched the music to something that was easier to sing along to and they made quick work of finishing the batter and scooping it into the muffin tin. 

Just as they were putting the muffins in the oven, there were footsteps on the stairs. Aaron appeared, looking fairly hungover and immediately went for the coffee machine. He grunted out “good mornings” while he poured two mugs, then disappeared back up the stairs. Neil excused himself to go take a shower. 

When he went back to the room to get dressed, Andrew was starting to wake up. 

“Coffee?” Andrew asked, clearly not fully awake.

“Nicky made some. If you come down to the kitchen we also made muffins.”

Andrew groaned and flopped over. Though it was difficult to part with his extremely warm and cozy comforter, Andrew rolled out of bed and pulled on a hoodie over the t-shirt he had worn to sleep. 

They went downstairs where Nicky was still sitting at the counter, scrolling Instagram while he waited for the timer to ring. Andrew fixed himself a coffee with creamer and simple syrup, then they all sat down in silence. Nicky had lived with the grumpy night-owl twins for long enough to know better than to be too loud in the mornings and kept himself busy on his phone. 

When the muffins were ready they were taken out of the oven with great ceremony and taken out of the tray to cool down a bit. Nicky went to fetch Aaron and Katelyn, and Neil was tasked with trying to wake Kevin up. Rather than fruitlessly yelling at him, Neil decided to just push him off the couch, which did the trick, Kevin let out a long string of curse words from his new place on the floor, but he was awake, so Neil’s method had been successful. 

When they were all assembled, Neil made a fresh pot of coffee and Nicky passed the muffins to the sleepy, disinterested group. Kevin got some fresh fruit out of the fridge, mumbling about diets and grocery shopping. 

Neil had his fair share of fruit and two of the muffins (he was a growing boy, okay?). He grimaced when he realized that Kevin had spiked the coffee with protein powder. Aaron had a similar reaction, taking one sip and saying, “What the fuck, Kevin?” 

Kevin defended himself and they fought good-naturedly for a while. After a while, Andrew got tired of this and escaped up to his bedroom. Neil followed suit not much later. 

The kisses they traded tasted like blueberries and sugar, and the bed they sat in felt like home. Neil wouldn’t have it any other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry the ending is so abrupt. i tried to make it better but at some point I just wanted to be done with this chapter. also the bit with the protein powder is inspired by my lovely father who puts protein powder in every beverage and it is revolting


	5. v. calm minds and healing hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil and Kevin go to a yoga class.

It was about two in the morning. Neil had been up at the crack of dawn the previous morning so he could do homework before practice and now he was trying to finish an essay for his required literature class. He didn’t even have that many classes, he was just bad at planning his time. It seemed like he always got sidetracked when he saw Dan in the cafeteria for lunch, or when he and Andrew had an empty dorm, or when Kevin wanted him to watch old exy games to analyze playing styles. 

So here he was, completely confused and struggling to find all the symbolism in The Crucible. He should have watched a recording of the play, or at least the movie, but he hadn’t thought of it until it was too late. Everyone else had gone to bed. Neil wasn’t even really sure when, though. He hadn’t been paying much attention. 

When he had finally written something that was sorta kinda coherent and had the required number of quotes embedded in the evidence, he decided that was good enough, clicked submit, and slammed his laptop shut.

He walked into the bedroom, and he could see Andrew’s eyes peering down at him. He expected that but, more notably, Kevin rolled over to look at him too. He ignored them both and got into bed. It was a while before sleep came. 

They were all awoken at the ass crack of dawn by Nicky’s alarm blaring. He had a required eight AM lecture twice a week, so he was always the first one up when they didn’t have morning practice. Neil had only just slipped back into a light doze when Kevin’s alarm started beeping. Neil pulled his duvet over his head and tried to ignore it, but Kevin wasn’t getting up so it just kept going.

Neil sat up. Kevin was holding a pillow over his head and trying valiantly to keep sleeping. 

“Kevin! Wake up!” he whisper-shouted across the room.

Kevin did not, in fact, get up. Neil rolled out of bed, cursing Kevin’s entire existence as he went. He turned the alarm off so that it’s grating melody wouldn’t wake up the neighbors as well as everyone in the dorm. 

“Kevin!” Neil said, whacking him with a pillow. “We are trying to sleep for once. I don’t know why you need to get up but let us sleep.”

Kevin uncovered his face with a sleepy groan. It took him a second, but when he got up he squinted at the time on his phone. Neil made to get back in bed and snooze for another hour before he went to class. As he turned around, though, Kevin grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the wardrobe.

“What’s your problem? Need help picking out an outfit?” annoyance was dripping from Neil’s words now. 

Kevin just wordlessly handed him a pile of clothes and pushed him toward the bathroom. Neil took stock of the workout ensemble then said, with less venom, “Can’t go to the gym by yourself?” and obediently went to get changed. He was always far more lenient to Kevin’s shenanigans when exy was involved. 

When Neil got out of the bathroom he could hear Keving banging around in the kitchen, presumably making them something to eat before they left. Neil stopped next to Andrew’s bed, standing on the bottom bunk so he could see over the railing. Andrew turned to look at him with a glare. 

“Kevin and I are going to the gym. We’ll be back soon,” he whispered.

Andrew grunted in agreement.

“Can I kiss you?”

Andrew’s “yes” came out raspy and thick.

Neil pressed a chaste kiss to Andrew’s forehead before climbing down from the bunk. 

Kevin had made a disaster of the kitchen. When Neil sat down, he passed over a plate with two pieces of buttered toast and a mug of coffee. He seemed to be mixing protein powder into two blender bottles of water, which made Neil sigh. Kevin thought protein powder was the only food-like substance anyone needed to consume. 

They were out the door within a few minutes and the walk to the rec center was nice. The day was cool and the wind was rustling through the leaves of the palm trees. They swiped into the building and Neil made to go toward the balcony, where they normally warmed up on the treadmills. He assumed Keving would follow him until he realized his footsteps were not right behind him. He turned to look over his shoulder. Kevin was walking down another hallway, toward the weight room. He supposed they could do a quick warm-up in there too, so Neil trailed after him.

Neil was surprised when Kevin did not go into the weight room but instead turned into one of the smaller fitness rooms where university staff and students taught free classes. He’d been to a couple before: HIIT, cycling, and even Zumba on Dan’s recommendation, but Kevin generally preferred to do his own thing. The room they entered was dimly lit and there was some quiet music playing from speakers in the front. A handful of people were already there, setting up mats and chatting.

When Kevin walked in a woman off to the side looked up from her mat and said, “Hey, Kevin! Missed you on Tuesday night.”

Kevin shrugged, “We had extra exy practice and I was tired.”

She laughed, “Well, this morning we’re just doing a restorative sequence, so you’re more in danger of falling asleep than overexerting yourself.”

Kevin nodded. He had taken two mats off the wall and had begun spreading them on the floor next to each other. Neil wasn’t really sure what to do so he just stood and watched. The girl who had been talking to Kevin went over to a shelf that was tucked away in the corner and returned with three small plastic buckets, each carrying sets of simple equipment. Through the clear sides, Neil could see foam blocks, resistance bands, and tennis balls. 

“Here. I’m Anika, by the way. Is this your first time at yoga?”

Neil nodded. 

“Cool, cool. Just try to follow along and let me know if you need anything. Nice to know that Kevin isn’t actually lying when he says he has other friends.” Then she let out a loud peal of laughter, clapped him on the back, and walked over to talk with someone else. 

Neil was left a little bit shell shocked. He probably could’ve thought of a better response if he had gotten a reasonable amount of sleep, but he instead just turned to Kevin and raised an eyebrow.

Kevin shrugged, “It’s really good for flexibility. I read an article about how helpful it can be for runners.” Then quieter, “Also, Anika’s in my group for recovering alcoholics and she said it helped with the anxiety.”

Neil shrugged, “Okay.”

Before long, Anika went to the mat set up in the front of the room and started the class. Her voice, though loud, was very soothing as she walked them through some basic stretches at the beginning. As soon as she led them into the first pose, however, Neil was struggling. Wasn’t downward dog supposed to be one of the easy ones? He looked over at some of the other attendees. How were their heels so close to touching the mat?

As they continued through the sequence, it became clear that Kevin was struggling too. Turned out being good at exy did not translate well to being good at yoga. Anika was a good teacher, though, explaining exactly what to do for each pose, and giving gentle corrections when she noticed someone had their knee too far to the right or their hand too far away from their shoulder. 

The class was only an hour long but by the time it was done Neil felt stretched like taffy and his head was a bit foggy. When he tried to stand up, his legs wobbled. Kevin passed him his bottle of the disgusting protein powder water and Neil drank it without really tasting it. They all wiped down their mats and put away the equipment, and chatter started to seep slowly back into the room. 

Anika thanked them for coming. Kevin was one of the first to leave, but he said goodbye to a couple of people Neil didn’t recognize before they went. 

When they reached the hallway Kevin said, “What’d you think?”

“My whole body feels, like, fuzzy.”

“Yeah. Do you want to go again sometime?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“I can send you that article about its benefits for runners.”

“Okay.”

Campus was starting to wake up around them as they walked back to the dorm. As Neil swiped into the dorm, he realized he hadn’t thought about any of the assignments that were stressing him out, or even the upcoming game against the Badgers. There was a lot of stuff he needed to do, but he had his family, and everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, folks, life really hit me like a brick and it's been a hot minute since I worked on this fic. I should know better than to post something before I've finished it. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be a bit more timely.


End file.
